The selection of the optimal partners in supply chain management is one of the most critical success factors. In the past, partners for outsourcing product ion were selected repeatedly within a closed group of candidates due t o the limited informatio...
The selection of the optimal partners in supply chain management is one of the most critical success factors. In the past, partners for outsourcing product ion were selected repeatedly within a closed group of candidates due t o the limited information and location of partners. But, the wide use of internet and the development of electronic commerce make it possible that the partners capable of providing the optimal services are selected regardless of their location or nationality. And the concept of partners was limited t o the provider of production resources. In the supply chain management, the concept should be extended to the provider of transportation and warehouse due t o the high portion of transportation cost among the total production cost. Therefore, in this study, we propose an analytical approach to the selection of production and transportation partners in supply chain management. For this purpose a mathematical model IS developed, and then a heuristic algorithm based on tabu search is presented since the model belongs t o the NP hard problem.